TODAY: Russia plays host to SCO and BRIC meetings; sidestepping protests at home, Iranian President Ahmadinejad lands in 'welcoming' Russia; is the US re-start set to stall?; Kremlin vetoes UN mission in Georgia; Russia holds record for journalist deaths in EuropeRussia has welcomed controversially re-elected Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Yekaterinburg for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit at which the country has observer status.  Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has called the violently-contested election: 'an internal affair of the Iranian people.'   The New York Times examines the difficulties awaiting Barack Obama in Moscow, particularly regarding hopes of Russian pressure on Iran.  Another article in the Times suggests that during the BRIC summit, Russia, the group's 'ideological provocateur', will be 'especially ...

TODAY: Medvedev the latest to criticize NATO exercises; perseverance required in nuclear talks; budget revenues may fall short; one million temporary jobs to be created; London's Speakers Corner 'cool' President Medvedev has spoken out against the NATO war games to take place in Georgia, calling the move 'the wrong decision'.  China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have engaged in military exercises for the first time since Kyrgyzstan said it would close down the Manas air base, the last U.S. air base in Central Asia.  At a conference for 'Overcoming Nuclear Dangers', Mikhail Gorbachev and former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz have discussed their failed 1986 US-Russia Reykjavik summit and urged the new presidents to persevere when it comes to nuclear disarmament talks. ...